Girls’ district title win highlights SHS sweep

By News Staff on Thursday, February 9, 2023
  • Taylor Darbonne (34) drives past a St. Edmund defender on her way to the goal in Sacred Heart’s district clinching 30-23 win over the Lady Blue Jays on Tuesday night. (Gazette photo by Rhett Manuel)
    Taylor Darbonne (34) drives past a St. Edmund defender on her way to the goal in Sacred Heart’s district clinching 30-23 win over the Lady Blue Jays on Tuesday night. (Gazette photo by Rhett Manuel)
  • Gabe Fontenot (3) scored 10 points for the Sacred Heart Trojans in their district win over St. Edmund Tuesday night at home. Hayden Deshotel led the team with 19 points. (Gazette photo by Rhett Manuel)
    Gabe Fontenot (3) scored 10 points for the Sacred Heart Trojans in their district win over St. Edmund Tuesday night at home. Hayden Deshotel led the team with 19 points. (Gazette photo by Rhett Manuel)
    By: RHETT MANUEL Sports Editor VILLE PLATTE - If there’s ever a way you want to win a district championship, it’s against one of your fiercest rivals. If there’s ever an opportunity to keep yourself in the thick of the playoffs, it’s always more fun doing so against your biggest adversary. For Sacred Heart basketball, the girls’ team captured the District 6-1A title in a hard-fought 30-23 win while the boys continued their late-season surge with a 62-53 win over St. Edmund’s on Tuesday night. GIRLS Sacred Heart 30, St. Ed’s 23 The Lady Trojans played their usual scrappy brand of basketball and it showed in a big way against the Lady Jays. Despite being the smaller of the two teams, Sacred Heart expressed dominance on the boards in outrebounding St. Ed’s through most of the game and playing tenacious defense. That brand of basketball would prove crucial in this low-scoring affair. The Lady Trojans escaped the first quarter with a 6-4 lead, led by a Kali Shiver three-point basket. When the teams played to practically a dead-heat in the second quarter, it was more due to Sacred Heart leaving points on the floor. At times, it seemed like the Lady Trojans had the opportunity to stretch the lead to double-digits. However, missed shots doomed them to only a single-point lead at the break, 12-11. St. Ed’s took a 16-14 lead in the third quarter when the Lady Trojans hit a bit of an offensive drought. A Shiver three-pointer with the foul allowed Sacred Heart to regain the lead, 17-16, and a Jodie Landry basket at the buzzer gave the Trojans a 19-18 lead going into the final quarter. It was there that Sacred Heart finally pulled away, relying on the continuously tenacious defense in leading by as many as nine points late in the contest. Landry led all scorers with 10 points, with Shiver adding eight. BOYS Sacred Heart 62, St. Ed’s 53 Sacred Heart used four double-digit scorers and a 20-9 fourth quarter to take the district contest by the scruff. Hayden Deshotel’s 19 points led a balanced Trojan offense that saw Cole Tate come just short of a fifth double-digit scoring output with nine points. A 15-13 opening quarter then saw St. Ed’s take a slight advantage in the second and third frames, as the Blue Jays carried a slight 44-42 lead into the fourth quarter. St. Ed’s stretched the lead to as many as six points, 51-45, in the final quarter. When Sacred Heart went on a run, it did so in a big way. It closed the game on a 17-2 run. The final period was when forward Karson Vidrine came alive, scoring six of his 14 in the final period. Gabe Fontenot and Colby Cloud each added 10 points to help lead the Trojans.